Soul Exchange
by lightningbolt18
Summary: Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy was dealing with two muggles who were admitted to St Mungo's because of a magical amulet and suddenly the both of them were cursed by the ancient amulet... Was the amulet truly a cursed thing or were they actually receiving a blessing from it?
1. Chapter 1 - The Exchange

**_Chapter 1 - The Exchange_**

One morning in St Mungo's, chaos ensued when two muggles were admitted into the ground floor wards for Artifact Accidents.

"Healer Granger, you are needed at the ground floor wards, now." A silver patronus of a tabby cat strolled into one of the fourth floor wards where Hermione was talking with one of her patients who had been jinxed with a spell that caused severe swelling to the face.

"Excuse me," Hermione told her patient and asked one of the other healers to take over her task before leaving for the first floor.

Outside the ward, she heard screaming and shouting.

"Why is this happening? Why the hell are you me? What's going on? I'm going crazy!"

A man's shrill screech reached her ears and Hermione quickened her pace.

The door to the ward swung open, revealing a muggle man dressed in a blue nightgown and an extremely befuddled muggle woman who had stuck her fingers into both ears to keep out the horrendous noise he was making.

"Healer Granger! Thank Merlin you're here. Those muggles... The man is so bloody loud!" Healer Pentsworth said with a grimace.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked in an undertone.

"They both claimed to have bought some sort of an amulet that was believed to strengthen their bonds of love. Then when the man put it on the woman's neck, they both fainted. And when they woke up, both of them were in hysterics. Luckily a wizard was living nearby, and he couldn't stand the noise they were making, so he sent them straight here." He explained.

"Seems to me that the amulet is cursed." Hermione said. "I'll calm them down first." She turned around and cast a spell. Both muggles immediately passed out.

"_That's_ calming them down?" Healer Pentsworth lifted an eyebrow.

"Well, unless you want to hear that high-pitched male scream again, I don't suggest you complain about my methods." Hermione replied archly.

"Where's the amulet?" She asked.

"Still on the woman's neck, I presume. No one dared to touch it." He said, and suddenly he tucked his hands into the pockets of his robes; an uneasy expression crossed his face.

"Are you hiding something from me, Healer Pentsworth?" Hermione questioned him in a sharp tone.

"Uh... You should know that I'd taken the liberty to ask a magical artifacts expert to come here and have a look..."

"He's talking about me, Granger." A drawl came from the direction of the door and Hermione spun around to meet the smug gaze of a blond-haired man. _Not again_, Hermione groaned inwardly.

"Malfoy. You, again." Hermione stifled the urge to growl at him. This wasn't the first time he was summoned to help her deal with an Artifact's Accident case. Draco Malfoy was an successful entrepreneur and collector of magical artifacts _and_ an annoying, self-assured, and infuriatingly handsome prat. However, due to his expertise and knowledge of magical artifacts (he was an avid collector of such), he was often requested to assist St Mungo's when there are patients admitted due to an Artifact's Accident.

His silvery blond hair was deliciously windblown and mussed, and from the looks of his attire, he seemed to be heading to work.

"A muggle suit, Malfoy?" Hermione couldn't resist the jibe, but she could not deny the fact that he looked good enough to eat in that muggle suit. The gray colour of his suit matched his eyes perfectly, and the cut of the suit revealed a surprisingly good, lean and not too muscular figure, just the build Hermione admired on men. At that thought, she immediately jerked herself out of her reverie and saw Draco give her a knowing look.

With her cheeks suddenly suffused with a pink blush for no apparent reason, Hermione cleared her throat and returned to business. "Since you're already here, you might as well take a look at that amulet."

"With pleasure, Granger." He drawled, his mellifluous baritone sending little frissons dancing up her arms. _Why the hell am I even reacting to his voice?_ Hermione mentally chided herself.

Draco moved towards the beds, where Hermione had levitated the unconscious bodies onto them, and observed the patients.

"What are the symptoms?" He asked both healers.

"They were hysterical, confused and somewhat distressed." Healer Pentsworth replied.

"Anything else?"

"Well, if you ask me, I think it's rather weird for the man to be the one screaming all the time. And he did say, _why the hell does my voice sound like this?_" Hermione mimicked the man's voice and his incredulous tone perfectly.

"You are saying that they are acting out of character, am I right?" Draco added as he examined both of the patients for signs of injury.

"Yeah, well. It certainly seems like that." Hermione replied in assent.

"Look, I'm going to take off the amulet." Draco told them as he took out a pair of white gloves and pulled them on. Healer Pentsworth nodded but Hermione interjected, "What if something happens to them when you take it off?"

Draco shrugged. "We'd have to take the risk. For all we know, maybe removing this amulet will remove the effects the magic has on these muggles altogether."

Hermione couldn't find a reason to disagree with him, so she stood back and watched as Draco unclasped the necklace and removed it from the muggle woman's neck. Then he stood, and all three of them held their breath and waited, as if expecting some sort of reaction from the sleeping muggles.

But nothing happened. The muggles were still unconscious.

"I guess your theory wasn't correct then, Malfoy." Hermione said lightly.

"Why don't you try waking them up and see?" Draco suggested and Healer Pentsworth pointed his wand towards them, "_Ennervate_."

The muggles woke up, bleary-eyed and confused. But when the muggle man looked to his left and saw his female companion, he leapt off his bed and started screaming again.

"_Why the hell is this happening? Why is my body over there? GOD, WHAT SHOULD I DO?_" And then he started to sob.

_Oh dear, Merlin save us from all this terrible noise_, Hermione thought inwardly, but she stepped forward and attempted to calm him down. However, when Hermione touched the man's arm, he suddenly cringed and pushed her away from himself in an almost violent motion. Hermione staggered backwards and Draco stepped forward to grab her arm and steady her. It all happened in those few seconds, when Draco missed her arm and grabbed her shoulder instead, she fell back against his chest, and the amulet glowed red in Draco's hand as Hermione's arm accidentally grazed it, then a jolt of magic ran through the both of them.

"_Shit!_" Draco swore and pushed Hermione away, but it was too late. The magic of the amulet had activated and it was cast on the both of them.

They gazed at each other, and for a moment both of them felt nothing.

"_Thank Merlin_-" Hermione was just saying when she felt her vision begin to blur. _What-?_ She barely had time to think when her eyelids slid shut and darkness engulfed her.

**_Please leave a review if you think the story is worth continuing, and thank you for reading! And of course, Harry Potter belongs solely to JK Rowling._**


	2. Chapter 2 - Cursed?

_Chapter 2 - Cursed?_

When Draco Malfoy woke up, he felt really strange. What was this feeling, as if there was something heavy pressing onto his chest?

And when he lifted his head and looked down at his chest, he nearly screamed aloud.

_What in Merlin's name is THAT?_ He must be seeing things. It couldn't be. He must had been under a Confundus spell, because he thought he was looking at two round breasts perched on his chest.

He groaned and closed his eyes, then he tried opening them again. It was the same.

"_What the hell is going on and who is _that_?_" A male screech from his left pierced right through his eardrums. _Merlin, who could make such a sound?_

And when he turned to his left to look at the source of that offending noise, he had the shock of his life.

"_Bloody hell!_" He exclaimed, and realised something. His voice sounded unnaturally high-pitched, like a girl's voice, and then he had breasts all of a sudden...

"_GRANGER!_" He growled through his teeth but instead of sounding frightening like he had meant to, he actually sounded... cute.

"Oh for goodness sake, _Malfoy_, I'm sure you realised what has happened." The male voice, no, his own voice, was speaking to him in a condescending tone, and Draco Malfoy was staring at himself, jaw gaping open like an idiot.

"Close your mouth, _Malfoy_. You're making me look like an idiot, which I never do." Draco Malfoy, or more accurately, Hermione Granger said to him.

"Why, why, why? Of all things to happen, why do I swap bodies with_ you?_" Draco moaned buried his face into his hands, refusing to look at _himself_.

"I could say the same, Malfoy." Draco, no, Hermione growled from the other bed.

"The both of you are awake?" A familiar voice sounded from the doorway and the two of them looked up and shouted in unison, "Pentsworth!"

Healer Pentsworth started and lifted his hands in a surrendering gesture while eyeing the both of them warily. "What?"

"Bring us a mirror, _now_!" Draco said in his girly voice and Hermione muttered in her manly voice, "Are you a wizard or not?"

"Excuse me, from what I see, I'm a witch right now." Draco said and cupped 'his' breasts, lifting them up for her perusal.

"DON'T YOU BLOODY TOUCH ME THERE!" Hermione screamed at him in her male voice and Draco immediately put down his hands.

"Okay, okay, calm down Granger. Screaming doesn't help." Draco smirked, secretly thinking that her breasts felt really good in his, no, her hands. Oh Merlin, he was having an identity crisis right now. Or a gender crisis.

"Well... as you can see." Healer Pentsworth cleared his throat and the both of them looked at him. He had conjured a shimmering mirror-like surface in mid-air and that confirmed their suspicions.

Draco Malfoy stared at his reflection and found himself looking at a woman's face framed with messy brown curls, and Hermione found herself looking at the male face she had been trying not to look at all the time, mussed blond hair and clear gray eyes.

The truth was confirmed. Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy had swapped bodies.

"This is a _disaster_!" Hermione moaned, and Draco snapped at her, "Don't make such a sound with my voice."

"Oh yeah? As far as I see, this is _my_ body and I can do anything with it." Hermione said with a smirk that could rival his own. It was really weird to be the receiver of your own trademark smirk, Malfoy thought.

"Oh dear. What do we do now?" Pentsworth sighed.

"Wait a second. Where's the amulet?" Draco asked.

"I took it out from uh- your hand. While wearing a glove, of course." Pentsworth said and held out a box. "It's in here."

"Give it to me," the both of them said in unison, then glared at each other, well, they glared at themselves. Then they got up from their beds with their hands outstretched.

"Are you sure you want to touch this thing again?" Pentsworth asked, but he handed the box to the both of them all the same.

"Well, if it's going to do anything else to us, it would be reversing the spell and ending this nightmare once and for all!" Hermione stated, and Draco nodded, so for once, the both of them were agreeing on something.

That being said, the both of them opened the box and found that evil object looking back at them. It looked pretty harmless, in fact, but the both of them knew better.

"Ready, Granger?" Draco asked and Hermione nodded, not used to hearing her own voice say 'Granger'.

Then they reached into the box and touched the amulet at the same time. And they waited.

Five seconds passed and nothing happened.

"Wait, let me touch it first." Hermione said and Draco removed his hand. They both remembered the fact that Hermione's arm had grazed that thing first before it started to glow red. So Hermione pressed her palm over it and waited. And still, nothing happened.

"Uh..." Pentsworth cleared his throat and the both of them looked up.

"You might want to try... try... kissing each other? I mean, there's this muggle fairy tale where this girl kissed a frog and it turned back into a prince?"

"Are you serious?" Draco looked at him incredulously, but beside him, Hermione was muttering, "Perhaps it's worth a try."

"What? No way." Draco exclaimed.

"It's just like you're kissing yourself, Malfoy." Hermione rolled her eyes as she spoke.

"It's not! It's our lips touching each other, Granger." Draco protested, and Hermione narrowed her eyes.

"So this is what it is about, isn't it? You wouldn't kiss me because you're worried that my mudblood lips would taint yours-uff-"

Hermione didn't manage to finish her sentence because his, no, her own lips, had come crashing against hers and effectively shut her up.

_Damn it, but Malfoy is such a good kisser._ Hermione barely registered that thought because her brain (or was it _his_ brain?) was fuzzy from the sensation of those warm lips on hers, and then his movements had gentled when he realised she wasn't going to struggle,

When he coaxed her mouth open and inserted his tongue, Hermione suddenly pulled back.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Kissing, Granger. What, you haven't had a french kiss before?" Draco said smugly, and then his smug expression transformed into a dismayed one when he realised that they were still stuck in each other's bodies.

"Is it because I didn't get to use my tongue, because from what I see, we're still stuck." Draco said, and Hermione blushed red.

"Shut up about your tongue, Malfoy. This isn't working, that's all." She said, annoyed by the fact that he looked completely unaffected by their kiss.

Then a snort of laughter from Pentsworth had them both snapping, "_What?_" at the same time.

"It's... just... so... damn... funny! I never thought I'd get to see Malfoy blush like that." Pentsworth said in gasps between bouts of laughter.

"Shut up and help us deal with this, Pentworth." Hermione growled, sounding extremely displeased, and Pentsworth gulped.

"By the way, Pentsworth, you're not going to tell everyone what happened here, alright? Because if you do. I swear you'll regret it." Draco said in a dangerously soft voice that was even more threatening than Hermione's growl.

"But why? I don't want people to think I'm acting like a bitch because _you_ are actually the one acting like that." Hermione interjected.

"Tell them and let them laugh, like this idiot here? I don't want to become a bloody clown! We'll deal with this secretly so that no one will know, understand?" Draco told her, and Hermione nodded even though her expression was dubious.

"Okay. Now should we try hitting each other and see if it works?"

**__****_Please leave a review if you think the story is worth continuing, and thank you for reading! If you have any suggestions for the storyline I'd love to hear it. And of course, Harry Potter belongs solely to JK Rowling._**


	3. Chapter 3 - Swapped!

**_A/N: Okay, this can get a bit confusing as Draco and Hermione are in each other bodies, so if the name is in Italics I mean the person on the outside, not the soul inside. I hope it's not too confusing for you to work it out! _**

_Chapter 3 - Swapped!_

"Why is nothing working?!" Draco Malfoy stifled the urge to cuss. He couldn't believe it, but the sound of 'his' own voice was beginning to grate on his ears because he couldn't get used to sounding so girly.

"Well, you tell me! What have you suggested, oh yes, hitting each other, exchanging blood -ugh- I couldn't believe I agreed to that!" Hermione rolled her eyes and said in disgust.

"And you suggested we kiss and make up, Granger! Why don't we just bloody shag? Maybe it'll work." Draco spat, and watched as his own face turned pale and even a little green.

"What? Wait. You're a virgin?" Draco exclaimed incredulously. _Wow, seriously?_ He thought.

"That's none of your business." Hermione retorted angrily.

"Oh yeah? _I_'m the one in this body right now and I can do anything with it, including helping you lose your little virginity." He sneered, then seemed to regret his words when _Draco_'s face got so pale that it looked white.

She stalked towards him and leaned in close. "If you ever do anything to my body, Malfoy, I swear I'll cut off this damn thing hanging between my legs right now." She hissed, white-hot rage coursing through her veins at Draco's words.

Draco immediately paled, stepped backwards and held his hands up in a pacifying gesture. "Alright, alright. Let's not do anything with each other's bodies, and find out how to break this curse."

"Healer Granger, Malfoy. The muggles had woken up and they are back to normal, so I came to see if the both of you are fine already." Healer Pentsworth said as he walked into the room unannounced.

"What? They're fine already? Did you ask them how?" _Draco_ immediately spewed out a long string of questions.

"Is that you, Healer Granger? Uh yes. I thought that the magic was somehow reversed, because they didn't actually do anything. But it seems like that's not the case for the both of you." Pentsworth sighed dramatically.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you, you bastard?" _Hermione_ snarled accusingly, and Pentsworth winced slightly.

"Of course not," he denied somewhat feebly, and the cursed duo exchanged a glance.

"Should we hex him to find out how sincere he is in helping us?" _Draco_ suggested with an innocent look.

"I think it's a good idea-" _Hermione_ began to agree, and Pentsworth immediately interrupted with a groan, "Don't the two of you team up against me. I was trying my best!"

"Right." The both of them said in unison and even rolled their eyes at the same time.

"Since when are the both of you so attuned to each other?" Pentsworth could not resist saying.

At their unison glare, he lifted his hands in surrender, "All right, forget that I said that."

"Are the muggles stable enough that we can question them now?" _Draco_ asked.

"Yes, I suppose so. Do you want me to bring them over or-?" Pentsworth trailed off enquiringly.

"I suppose we're stable enough to leave this room, Healer Pentsworth, and we wouldn't want the muggles to witness anything too shocking, would we?" _Draco_ said primly.

"Uh yes, alright then. Come with me."

As Pentsworth headed towards the door, _Hermione_ called out, "Don't forget our agreement. This is between the three of us."

Pentsworth turned back and nodded before opening the door.

The trio walked past a few wards on the corridor before reaching the ward where the muggles were left in. Pentsworth was just about to open the door when it swung open and a Healer strolled out of it.

"Healer Wickham? What were you doing in there?" Pentsworth asked in surprise.

"Oh, I was just cleaning the ward so that someone else can use it." The male healer said and turned his attention to _Hermione_.

"Healer Granger, isn't it your lunch shift right now?"

It was time for lunch already? How long exactly had they passed out? The both of them were so caught up in their current predicament that they actually forgot to ask.

_No wonder I'm feeling so bloody hungry_, Draco thought, and before he could say anything, _Draco _replied, "Yes, it is, Healer Wickham."

Healer Wickham gave _Draco_ a strange look. "Uh..."

_Crap! I'd forgotten that I was Malfoy! _Hermione thought with an inward groan. How was she going to explain this?_  
_

"Dra- uh, Malfoy was just meeting me for lunch, that's all." _Hermione_ quickly interjected. _Draco _shot him a look that said, _what the hell?_ _Hermione_ immediately gave _Draco_ a nudge.

Hermione took the hint and decided to play along. Well, she never really liked Healer Wickham, even though he was rather good-looking, because he flirted with all the female healers in St Mungo's.

"Yeah, we're very close right now." _Draco_ said and Pentsworth stifled a snort.

Healer Wickham didn't look pleased at that statement and he gave _Hermione_ a look, but _Hermione _just nodded and hooked a hand through _Draco's_ arm.

Healer Pentsworth, astute as he was, sensed the awkwardness of the situation and hastily changed the topic. "Healer Wickham, you said the muggles in here had left?"

"Well, they were cured, so they paid up and left." Healer Wickham replied.

"_WHAT?_" Both Draco and Hermione shouted.

"Um... Maybe we should discuss this in private. Please excuse us, Healer Wickham." Before the volcanoes, namely Malfoy and Granger, could erupt, Healer Pentsworth dragged the both of them into the ward and shut the door in Wickham's puzzled face.

"If this is some kind of sick joke, Pentsworth, I swear-" _Hermione _began with a growl.

"Hey, I had nothing to do with that, alright! I didn't think Healer Hilda would just let them leave like that!" Healer Pentsworth protested his innocence under the very furious glares of two people.

"_Shit! _What do we do now?" _Hermione_ threw her hands up in a frustrated gesture.

"Can't you track them down? Surely you had gotten their details for record." _Draco_ turned to Pentsworth.

"Well, I suppose there are some information, but it's supposed to be confidential... Hospital policy, you know that, Granger." Pentsworth finished lamely.

"_I don't care about some fucking hospital policy! They're bloody muggles and if I want their information I'd have them!_"Draco roared, finally unable to contain his fury.

"Calm down Draco. You're not going to get something just because you demand for it like a kid." Hermione pointed out.

Draco was just about to reply her with some scathing retort when he realised something. "Wait. Did you just call me Draco?"

Hermione snorted. "What else should I call you? Hermione? Ugh, no, I can't do that."

"No, I mean, you've always called me Malfoy."

"Oh, yeah, that's right. Well, I suppose we should be on a first name basis by now... Obviously we're going to be in close proximity to each other for a while." As Hermione said, she pinched the bridge of her nose, as if she couldn't stand the idea of it.

"Alright, Hermione. Let's get on with it. Pentsworth, I want the details." Draco went back to his demand, while Hermione felt oddly touched by the fact that he had used her first name.

_Don't be silly. He's just returning the favour_. Hermione scolded herself mentally.

"Healer Granger, tell him I can't disclose my patient's information." Pentsworth turned back to Hermione for help, his voice pleading.

"Well, it's only for private use. I'm sure you can break the rule once, for us, Pentsworth." Hermione told him.

"Seriously?"

"I'd break the rules a thousand times to get out of _this_." Hermione gestured at herself and Draco cut in, "Hey, I'm in a worse situation here."

"Oh alright. I'll do it. But you owe me a favour now, Healer Granger." Pentsworth grumbled.

"Now get on with it, man. We don't have time to waste." Draco gave Pentsworth a light pat on the back and Pentsworth actually blushed.

"Uh, right." He cleared his throat awkwardly and conjured a bunch of papers out of midair.

For the first time within the hour, Hermione and Draco felt hopeful about being returned to their bodies, but was the curse really going to be this easy to reverse?

_****__****__Alright, once again, please leave a review if you think the story is worth continuing, and thank you for reading! If you have any suggestions for the storyline I'd love to hear it. And of course, Harry Potter belongs solely to JK Rowling._


	4. Chapter 4 - Confusion

_Chapter 4 - Confusion_

"I need a drink." Draco Malfoy collapsed onto one of the hospital visitor chairs and covered his eyes with one hand exhaustedly.

"I agree." Hermione slumped against the wall but apparently she still had the energy to give Pentsworth a glare.

"What? It wasn't my fault that the muggles weren't registered under their own names and I couldn't remember the wizard's name!" Pentsworth wiped off the perspiration dotting his forehead nervously. He was talking about the wizard who sent the muggles to St Mungo's of course.

For the past twenty minutes, Pentsworth had been wracking his brains to recall the wizard's name. Was is Wilkins? Winkers? Wilners?

"Accio Wilner's file?" He muttered uncertainly, and suddenly a file came flying right at his face, whacking him on the nose.

"Ouch!" He groaned, and caught it before it fell to the ground. "Yes! I found it!" He crowed triumphantly and even did a little jig. Draco and Hermione glanced at each other and hid their smiles.

"Well, looks like we're getting back on the right track." Hermione couldn't help but sound hopeful.

"Let's see..."

* * *

Thirty minutes later, much to Hermione and Draco's dismay, they discovered that the muggle couple in question had gone on a vacation! As a matter of fact, the muggle man had planned a surprise trip for his love which was a planned to be carried out after giving her the amulet on their third marriage anniversary.

"Just our bloody luck!" Draco had exclaimed after finding out, and Hermione could only sigh in resignation. Was she truly cursed?

She couldn't describe how she really felt right now. She was significantly taller, and so the view she got was slightly different from usual. Almost unconsciously, she lifted a hand to loosen the suffocating tie around her neck so that she could breathe easier. _So, being a man felt like this_, she thought. Not so different as she had thought, but she felt awkward walking with something dangling between her legs. Blushing furiously at that thought, she gave herself a mental tap on the head and reminded herself not to get carried away.

A cursory glance to her left revealed an extremely agitated Draco Malfoy (well, her own self on the outside) and an increasingly nervous Pentsworth. Part of Hermione pitied that man. He had done nothing but was dragged into their business just because he was there to witness it. Perhaps it was time to face the music and accept the fact that they had to deal with this problem which was obviously not going to go away in a few hours time.

"Look, why don't we have some lunch and talk over this?" She suggested, and Draco gave her a disbelieving look.

"I'm having the biggest problem in my life and you're talking about lunch?"

_Well, you're not the only one having a problem here!_ Hermione wanted to snap back at him, but she kept her temper in rein and smiled pleasantly. "The problem is not going to just go away even if you starve yourself to death, Draco, and I'd rather have _my body_ in good condition before I return to it."

"Fine." Draco grumbled under his breath but relented. Pentsworth let out an audible sigh and immediately cheered up. "How about having lunch at Ellie's Place?"

When they stepped into Ellie's Place, a small cafe somewhere near the vicinity of St Mungo's, the cafe was almost empty except for a few people drinking coffee in a corner.

"You'll be having the usual then, my dears?" Ellie, a plump witch with a friendly demeanour asked as she approached their table. Hermione and Pentsworth were regular customers, so she remembered their preferences.

"Uh, no, yes, I mean, I'll have what she usually has, and..." Hermione trailed off and looked at Draco questioningly.

"I'll have whatever Her- er- I use to have, thanks." Draco handed back the menu to Ellie and smiled awkwardly. Ellie didn't seem to notice the weird atmosphere between the trio. She just gave _Hermione_ a small wink and left.

Their orders arrived quickly and all three of them were grateful for that. They hadn't realised how hungry they were until the aroma of the food wafted into their nostrils.

Draco leaned forward in his chair and cursed as 'his' breasts bumped against the edge of the table and one curl of 'his' brown hair nearly fell into his soup as he bent down to drink it. He didn't think being a woman would be this troublesome! Much to his annoyance, Hermione seemed to be enjoying his discomfiture, smirking slightly as she tucked the soup spoon between 'her' lips.

"Hey Draco!"

Hermione nearly choked on her soup and the spoon collided against her teeth as someone thumped her heavily on the back.

"What the hell? Can't you see I'm eating- Oh." Hermione turned her head to see a smirking Blaise looking down at her.

"Hi." She said, and Blaise lifted an eyebrow. "Hi?"

"Uh, hey dude, I didn't know you hang around here." _Draco _improvised quickly.

"Draco. I come here every Wednesday and you know that." Blaise gave _Draco_ a strange look, and under the table, _Hermione_ was kicking _Draco_'s shin.

_Ouch, that hurt!_ Hermione thought but she swallowed down a grimace.

"Did you lose your memory or something? And you've got really interesting company with you here." Blaise commented, the smirk returning to his face.

"For your information, I'm a regular here." Draco did a haughty impersonation of Hermione as he spoke, and Hermione stifled a giggle, ducking her leg before Draco could aim another kick at it.

"Playing footsies under the table? Didn't know you had it in you, Granger." Blaise suddenly leaned in close towards _Hermione _and gave _her_ a surreptitious wink.

"Mind you, I don't just play footsies with _anyone_, Blaise." Draco said coldly, and was surprised by his own reaction. He actually didn't like the idea of anyone flirting with Hermione, not even Blaise, who had previously professed to him of his interest in her.

"Wow. So you and Draco eh?" Blaise looked a little taken aback by _Hermione_'s reaction but he recovered quickly, hiding his discomfort behind a pleasant smile.

"What? No!"

"Yes."

Both Hermione and Draco said at the same time, and Blaise looked at them in utter confusion.

"They might have accidentally been hit by a Confundus charm this morning. Seems like the side effects are still there." Pentsworth added into the conversation suddenly and all three of them turned to look at him.

_What? I'm helping the two of you!_ He transmitted his message with a pleading look when both Hermione and Draco glared at him, both telling him, _this is not helping!_

"Uh, right. Okay." Blaise shuffled awkwardly on his feet and glanced at _Draco_.

"So I'll see you around then, mate?"

"Yeah, sure. See you around." Hermione said with false cheeriness and returned to her soup, avoiding Blaise's gaze.

As soon as Blaise left, Hermione growled at Draco, "What the hell was that?"

"What the hell was what?" Draco mimicked her imperious tone.

"You made him think we're a couple!" Hermione shot back, looking furious.

"And so?"

"So? It's not true!" Hermione screeched, and Draco gave a little shrug.

"It's not true, but it's a very ingenious plan of mine. Granger- no, Hermione, if the both of us are a thing, then no one will wonder why we're spending so much time together, and why we're acting strangely. They'll just think we're sickeningly in love." Draco explained, looking pleased by his idea. He actually had not thought about this. Telling Blaise they had a thing was a spur of the moment decision, one he couldn't resist, for some reason. And now that he thought of it, he didn't think it was such a bad idea after all. However, apparently Hermione's got a problem with it, since Draco saw that his own face was turning red right before him (he didn't know he could produce such a colour on his skin, since he'd always looked very pale) and he braced himself for the onslaught.

"No one will buy that, Draco. You and I? The idea itself is more absurd than the fact that our bodies were swapped! Forget it." Hermione told him, sounding more curt than she intended to.

There was a moment of silence at the table before Draco said quietly, "Is the idea of you being with me really so absurd?"

Hermione just looked at him, stunned for a moment that such a thought had crossed his mind.

"I know this is about my past-"

"No it isn't! This is about _us_. Look at me and look at you. We're too different! Not just on a social level, but also our lives. You live in an upper society but I live a simple life, Draco. Not to mention our difference in blood status." Hermione ended bitterly, refusing to look at Draco's face when she spoke.

"So let's just forget about it and solve this problem before it messes up too much of our lives." She continued, stoically fixing her gaze on the bowl of soup in front of her.

Draco didn't know why, but it actually hurt when she said that. He didn't think that it mattered so much to her, their social status and blood status. Then he remembered those days when he called her mudblood, and was reminded by the fact that he was the one who degraded and humiliated her for those very reasons. A chill settled over his heart and he told himself not to be bothered. Why would Hermione even consider being with him when she had so many better men around her? Men who wouldn't care she was muggle-born and live a simple life. Men who didn't live in Malfoy Manor, a place where she was tortured and where he would always be haunted by the sound of her screams whenever he passed by the room where it happened.

"No need to work yourself into a snit because of this, Granger. I was just joking." Draco replied in a light tone, acting nonchalant even when his heart was taking a tumble through a prickly bramble bush.

Hermione grew silent at his words, and out of a sudden she picked up a glass of water on the table and moved it to her lips as if to drink it, then seemed to think better of it, and hurled its contents right at Draco's face.

Draco just sat there, stunned and frozen as rivulets of water cascaded down his face and hair, shining in the dim light of the cafe like little gems.

"You think it's funny, don't you? Messing around with me? Go to hell, Malfoy."

Hermione tossed those words at him and stormed out of the cafe before either Pentsworth or Draco could say a word.

**_Please, please leave a review! And thanks for reading. Harry Potter belongs to JK Rowling and I own nothing of it._**


	5. Chapter 5 - Truce

**_A/N: Someone pointed out to me in a review that it's confusing to have Draco and Hermione's names in italics, and after rereading what I've written I think it's true, so I'm going to stop that, since you readers should know that their bodies are swapped. Thanks for the review anyway! I was glad to know what you think about this story. (So this chapter is slightly re-edited)_**

_Chapter 4 - Truce_

Rain poured down from the grey skies and every moving being under it scampered for shelter, except for one person. His blond hair was plastered against his face and scalp but he didn't even look up when the rain began to fall and raindrops pelted against his body. He just sat there on that park bench wordlessly, staring at the ground as a puddle of water began to form at his feet. At the sight of his reflection, he let out a long sigh, and some of the passerbys who heard it couldn't help but wonder what plagued this well-dressed young man, but none of their guesses were anywhere close to the truth.

Hermione Granger hunched over and rested her elbows on her knees. What the hell was she doing? The scene at Ellie's Place replayed in her head over and over again, and she had to admit that she was the one who had overreacted during their conversation. _What was I hoping for? Malfoy to reassure me that we're not too different and we have a chance with each other? You're such an idiot._ She berated herself and let out a self-deprecating laugh. For all she knew, he was just toying around with her as usual, being the flirt he was.

Since when had she developed feelings for Draco Malfoy? She wouldn't say it was love- it was too strong a feeling to describe what she had felt for him- but she was certainly attracted to him. It was the way he carried himself, confident, sometimes even a little arrogant (though he had improved much since the war- he used to be an haughty bastard), and maybe the way he had joked with her whenever she was stressed over a patient's condition, or perhaps the way he made her stomach flutter whenever he was near her. He made her feel strange. At first she had denied her feelings vehemently, going as far as to avoid him and that trademark smirk of his by forbidding Pentsworth to call on him whenever there was trouble at the Artifact Accident wards. But eventually she began to miss him, actually miss him calling her names like Miss Know-it-all and his little chuckle whenever she surprised him with her comebacks.

"Ugh..." Hermione groaned and buried her face in her hands. She was cold and wet, but she didn't make a move to dry herself or cast an Impervious spell. All she could think of was how she embarrassed herself at Ellie's Place. From what outsiders could see, it was Draco Malfoy throwing a glass of water at Hermione Granger's face. Even now when she thought about it, her cheeks were burning. After she had stormed out of the cafe, she immediately attempted to Apparate back to her house where she could escape the reality of the situation, but she found out -to her immense dismay- that she actually couldn't enter her house! She'd set up wards all around it and those wards were now keeping her away from her own house. She'd cursed foully and Apparated into a dim alleyway before making her way to this muggle park. Draco Malfoy would never think to find her here.

She knew she was a coward for running away but she didn't care. _Let him think whatever he want_, she thought, savagely pushing the wet blond hair out of her eyes.

"Hermione?" A voice made her look up and she found herself staring right at her own face that looked slightly pink from exertion and equally wet as she was. Raindrops were dripping off the end of Draco's nose but he didn't seem to notice. He was just staring at Hermione like he had found something he had been looking for forever.

* * *

_Finally found her!_ Draco thought as he gazed into those grey eyes that were shining with emotion. Then he gave himself a mental shake. It was quite weird to be staring at your own face like that. He gave Hermione a small smile and asked, "May I sit?"

"Here, in the rain? With me?" Hermione enquired as if it was the most impossible idea in the world.

Draco nodded. Hermione moved over slightly to one side and patted the space beside her. As Draco sat down, he heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Didn't think you'd be hiding here, Hermione." He said with his eyes closed.

He was still calling her Hermione. Perhaps he wasn't that mad at her even after what she'd done. Hermione smiled slightly at that thought but retorted, "I wasn't hiding. I was thinking."

"Yes. Hiding _and_ thinking." Draco grinned slightly, turning to look at her.

"Well. Say whatever you like." Hermione huffed, but deep down inside, she was unable to stay mad at him.

"Just now... At Ellie's Cafe or whatever you call it..." Draco began uncertainly, and Hermione immediately interrupted him. "Let's not talk about that."

"Please," she added when he looked as if he was about to argue.

Draco gazed at her for a few seconds before nodding. He hated making her look like this, miserable and tired.

"I propose a truce." Draco declared abruptly, and Hermione glanced at him.

"What kind of truce?" She asked, sounding a bit tentative.

"A truce where the both of us agree not to argue while this problem between us persists." Draco said.

"Not argue? With you? That's impossible." She fought down the urge to laugh at his proposal.

"Hey, I mean, not have this huge argument like just now. Little arguments are allowed." Draco continued solemnly.

There was a brief pause, and then Hermione held out a hand. "Deal."

They shook hands quickly and smiled at each other.

"Did you try Apparating back to Malfoy Manor?" Hermione asked, glad to finally change the subject.

"No, not yet. Why?" _Not yet because I hadn't thought about anything but to look for you for the past hour_, Draco thought, but he kept it to himself.

"I was blocked out of my house. Because of my wards." Hermione scowled.

For a moment, Draco was puzzled, but when he caught on the meaning in her words, he burst out laughing.

"It's not funny, Draco." Hermione's scowl deepened.

"Oh yes it is. I can't believe this. You must've set up wards to ward _me_ away for this to happen." Draco smirked, the expression so un-Hermione-like on her face that Hermione had to smile.

"No, I didn't. My wards keep everyone else out with a few exceptions." Hermione stated.

"And I expect that a few of those exceptions include Potty and Weasel." It was Draco's turn to scowl.

"Of course." Hermione murmured, not noticing Draco's scowl as she'd turned to gaze at the empty park around them.

The rain was beginning to stop, and the grass looked greener than before.

"Are you going to be kept out of Malfoy Manor?" She asked.

"Yeah. I think so. My wards are like yours." Draco replied, scanning her face to see if she had any reaction since they were talking about Malfoy Manor, the place where her nightmare had occurred years ago.

"Great, just great. So what do we do now?" Hermione looked up to the sky and couldn't help but think, _is someone up there playing this joke on us because that person thinks it's funny?_

"Dunno. I can't think of anything we could do right now except for waiting for the muggle couple to return from their holiday." Draco replied gloomily.

"Where's Pentsworth?"

"He went back to St Mungo's. Claimed that he was needed. I bet he did that just to escape us. We're like a pair of lunatics right now." He snorted, and she laughed, the tinkling sound made a warm, fuzzy feeling spread in his chest. _Stop being so sappy, Draco,_ he scolded himself mentally.

"I can't blame him for that. That poor man." Hermione sighed.

"Well... wait. Why didn't I think of it? Hermione, I have an idea." Draco said suddenly, his eyes alight with excitement.

"What idea?" She asked.

"Polyjuice potion! We could change back into ourselves-"

"And drink Polyjuice potion for the rest our lives? No thanks." Hermione shuddered at that thought. She wasn't exactly a fan of Polyjuice potion, given that it tasted horrible and there was also the fact that she had experienced being unpleasantly metamorphosed into a cat due to it.

"This is just temporary. We'll figure out how to break the curse and carry on with our own lives normally at the same time. It's the perfect solution!" He continued, looking so hopeful that Hermione had to agree. After all, it did seem like the only temporary solution they had to their problem.

"So... should we start gathering the ingredients now?"

**_Reviews, reviews, reviews, please! And thank you for reading! I love Harry Potter, but too bad, it belongs solely to JK Rowling! _**


	6. Chapter 6 - Complications

_Chapter 6 - Complications_

It turned out that Draco and Hermione had forgotten that the Polyjuice Potion actually required about a full month's time to be brewed.

"How could I have forgotten?" Hermione smacked her forehead lightly. She was so preoccupied with thoughts of her current predicament that she had actually forgotten such an important fact. It was not every day Hermione Granger forgets something she had done before.

"Well, I'd forgotten too. There goes our temporary solution." Draco said wearily, slumping against the back of his chair in dejection.

The two of them had immediately headed to one of the bookstores in Diagon Alley to look for the Polyjuice Potion's recipe after Draco got the idea to use it to alter their appearances back to their own selves, and both of them were just skimming through Moste Potente Potions when they found out about their little oversight.

"This is it. We're doomed." Draco gave a drawn out groan as he spoke, tapping his fingers against the desk listlessly.

"No, we're not. You know what? I think we should just go home and sleep in our beds. Perhaps the next morning-"

"We'll wake up and find out that this is all just a bad dream? You're the one dreaming right here." Draco pointed out.

"Hey, one can hope. But anyhow, I'm tired and clearly we're not going to solve this problem today, so I'll just go home-"

"Home? Which one? Mine or yours?" He interrupted with a smirk.

He shouldn't have asked. The moment Hermione registered the fact in her brain that Malfoy Manor was going to be 'her' home to everyone else, her face had whitened and painful memories immediately flooded back into her head. Her stomach clenched in panic, and her brain was screaming its denial. _You can't go back there! You can't..._

_Mudblood... Pain... Bright red drops of blood splattering on the carpet, and long, drawn out screams._

"Hermione? Are you alright?" Faintly, she heard Draco say using her own voice and it felt as if it was coming from a long distance.

"Shit. Hermione, I'm sorry, I forgot... That was no excuse. I shouldn't have- "

"I'm alright." Hermione held up a hand to stop him and one hand went to her stomach as if she could stop it from churning by pressing onto it. She took a few deep breaths and looked up to see Draco gazing at her with remorse in his eyes.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. It's quite silly. I mean, a few years had gone by since that incident had happened... But," she gulped audibly, "I just can't accept the idea of it being a home to- m- anyone."

Draco was silent. What the hell was he supposed to say to that? He knew deep down that none of them had a choice that time. He was a coward when he chose to stand by and do nothing, but being a coward also protected his life and his family.

"Well, it seems like I'd found something worse about my current situation other than the fact that I'd have to see your face every time I look into a mirror." Hermione attempted to lighten the situation and defuse the tense silence between them.

"Hey, don't pretend that you don't find me good-looking alright? I've seen you check me out more than once." Draco countered, smiling slightly, secretly relieved that Hermione had let the topic drop.

"Don't be conceited." She punched his arm playfully and their banter was interrupted by a loud voice suffused with shock, "_Hermione_? What the hell are you doing here with _Malfoy_?"

"Ron!" Hermione exclaimed and Ron looked at her in utter shock, his face looking almost comical with his mouth hanging so wide open that she could stuff two eggs in it.

"Did you just- you ferret- did you just call me-"

"Uh, Wea- Ron, Draco and I were just doing research on a certain magical artifact. No need to get your panties into a twist." Draco smirked as he said, and Hermione looked at him in consternation. _Stupid Malfoy, he's acting so out of character that Ron will notice at once!_

_Merlin, this is a mess! _Part of her was dying to tell Ron the truth but Draco nudged her with his elbow and gave her a warning look.

Ron didn't miss the little exchange between them and his eyes widened, as big as galleons as he said, "What the bloody hell is happening?"

"Nothing, R- uh- Weaselbee. Just as Hermione said, we're working on something and we'd appreciate it if you can keep your big, freckled nose out of it." Hermione said scornfully and winced inwardly, wondering if she had gone too far even though she was just acting her part.

"Didn't think you actually read, We- uh, Ron." Draco couldn't resist saying. Ron's face turned bright red at his words and he stammered, "Uh, I was just-"

"Ronnie darling! Where are you?" A shrill female voice cut off Ron's words, and if it were possible, his face actually flushed redder, the colour almost like the shade of his hair.

"Shit. I gotta go, Mione. Talk to you next time." He spun around and left quickly as if hell hounds were nipping at his heels.

"Well, that was close." Draco sighed after Ron left. "What? What are you glaring at me for?"

"_No need to get your panties into a twist... Didn't think you actually read..._" Hermione mimicked his imperious tone and continued with a growl, "You were acting out of character! I wouldn't have said that to Ron, and if he were anyone else he'd notice immediately that something was wrong with the both of us."

"Am I mistaken, or did you just imply that Weaselbee is stupid?" Draco smirked, and Hermione's mouth snapped shut.

"Don't twist my words, Malfoy. I just meant that Ron can be a bit obtuse sometimes. But that's not the point right here!" She glanced around and hastily lowered her voice into a hiss when she noticed that several customers of the bookstore were giving them strange looks, "The point is, are you going to be nasty to all of my friends like you were just now?"

"You can't expect me to be nice to Weaselbee or Potty!" Draco assumed a horrified expression, as if she had just said she wanted to marry a potted plant.

"I can, and you will be nice to the both of them." Hermione said sternly, and Draco swallowed back a chuckle. He actually liked it when Hermione's stern and bossy persona surfaced and he had to admit he harboured fantasies of being reprimanded and bossed around by her. _Geez, you're out of your mind_, he told himself.

"What are you going to do to me if I disagree?" He asked.

"We had an agreement, Draco. If I recall it correctly, you were the one who proposed a truce." She lifted an eyebrow expectantly.

"Fine. I won't promise to be nice to them. But I promise not to hex them whenever their backs are turned. And no, this is not negotiable." Draco muttered reluctantly.

"Don't you even think of harming them or I'll hex your balls off." Hermione waved her hand threateningly and Draco had to laugh.

"They're _your_ balls for the time being. I hope I'm leaving it in good hands." He murmured.

Hermione blushed, blood flooding into her pale cheeks. "As long as you behave, I won't do anything."

"I promise to behave, ma'am." Draco grinned incorrigibly.

Hermione couldn't believe that they could actually get along like this, like... friends. If someone told her ten years ago that she'd be sitting beside Malfoy and laughing along with him, she'd tell that person that Devil's Snares could grow on people's heads. But now, it didn't seem so impossible.

"Look, I think we should call it a day. Why don't you tell me your house address and I'll Apparate there-"

"You're not staying in my house!" Hermione cut in, horrified.

"I wasn't finished. I'll Apparate there and modify the wards around so that you can go home." He continued, looking disgruntled that she actually thought that he wanted to intrude on her personal space.

"Oh. Alright, thanks. I just thought... What about you? Do you need me to..." Hermione couldn't complete her sentence. _It was too soon_, her mind argued, _you're not mentally prepared to face this... and that place_.

"It's alright. I'll go to a hotel." As if he could sense her inner turmoil, Draco quickly spoke up.

"But..." Hermione began hesitantly, feeling guilty that she could not return the favour.

"I'm fine. And let's get going." He stood from his seat and gave her a wry smile. "The hotel is my second home."

Hermione pondered on his statement as the both of them walked out of the bookstore. It sounded as if he had a time when he avoided going home. _I wonder why..._ Hermione was so lost in her thoughts that Draco had to drag her aside as a child barreled past them. Her foot caught on a loose stone and she stumbled into his arms. (Well, actually, her own arms.)

They were so close, their faces a mere few inches away and Hermione suddenly laughed softly. "Didn't know I had a mole there." She lifted a hand and used a finger to trace the mole she was talking about lightly. Then she seemed to realise what she was doing and dropped her hand immediately, blushing furiously at their proximity.

"Didn't know I could blush like that either." Draco said laughingly, and Hermione grinned.

"Well, it's high time people learn that you actually have blood veins under your skin." Hermione retorted cheekily and Draco nudged her in the ribs.

"Your address, ma'am."

She smilingly told him, and he quickly vanished with a small 'pop'.

A minute later he reappeared with a smile on his face. "Done."

"Thanks, Draco." She said to him, and suddenly the both of them were quiet.

"Well, it's been a disastrous and long day, and I can't believe I'm saying this, but... I'm actually glad that you're the one I swapped bodies with." Hermione confessed suddenly, and Draco chuckled.

"Glad that it wasn't Pentsworth, right? I get it."

"Hey, he isn't that bad."

"What, you fancy him? Didn't know your tastes run to older men."

"Shut up, Malfoy. I'm going home. Goodbye."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah."

Then Hermione Apparated back into her house, nearly crying in relief as the familiar space met her eyes.

She went to her bedroom and stood before the full-length mirror.

"Wow. If I were a guy and I was stuck in this body, I definitely wouldn't mind."

And then she fell back onto her bed and slept till dawn.

**_Reviews, reviews, reviews please! Thank you so much for reading. Hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for the positive review, erica! You made my day. :) Harry Potter belongs solely to JK Rowling._**


	7. Chapter 7 - Like a Dream

_Chapter 7 - Like a Dream_

Hermione Granger's dream was interrupted by the tinkling sound of bells. She was having a strange dream, where she had swapped bodies with a certain ex-archenemy named Draco Malfoy... _It was a dream- it must be_, she rationalised, still not fully awake until a vibration against her leg jolted her from her sleepy trance.

_What was that...?_ She opened her eyes slightly, her gaze bleary as her hand moved downwards to pat against her leg, and found a pocket, where she found the source of that vibrating movement.

_A mobile phone?_ She looked at the object groggily and it began to ring again.

"Ugh... Hello?" She picked up the call instinctively as it rang non-stop.

"Draco, why the hell didn't you pick up my calls?! The meeting is happening in ten bloody minutes and I still see neither your hide nor hair right here!" A male voice screamed into her ear and she automatically moved it further away from her sensitive ears.

"What the hell?" She replied almost unthinkingly and pressed the button to end the call.

Three seconds later...

"_What the hell!_" Hermione Granger leapt off from her bed as if it was on fire and rushed to the mirror.

What she saw in it made her groan aloud. _Shit shit shit!_ It wasn't a dream!

Sleep-tousled blond hair and half-open grey eyes were staring back at her, the expression on that sleepy but still sexy face was uncharacteristically dismayed.

"_Damn it_!" She swore under her breath and cast her reflection one last look before waving her wand to fix her appearance.

Then she disapparated with a loud crack.

* * *

If Draco Malfoy needed any assurance that he wasn't having a dream right now, the evidence right before his eyes was more than sufficient.

_Damn it, if I'd known that Granger had hidden such a body under those Healer robes..._ His inner voice trailed off as he visually devoured the sight before him. His reflection was delectable, that smooth milky skin and delicious curves were nearly driving him crazy.

_You're a goddamn pervert. Go put some clothes on now._ His conscience was growling at him but he was unable to tear his gaze away. He did refrain himself from touching any part of 'his' body, because he knew it was wrong to just memorise her body in such a manner, and he knew that it would drive him crazy to have the memory of touching her body in his head even long after this incident was over.

_Damn, damn, damn!_ He shook his head as if to clear his thoughts. If he were a real pervert he would have done it already, consequences be damned. But the thought of violating her body in such a manner made him sick, so he decided that he would only look. And now, even looking made him feel as if he was doing something terribly wrong.

Draco Malfoy was just turning away from the mirror when a loud crack sounded in his hotel bedroom and he jumped.

"What the fuck-" He was just beginning to swear when the person who apparated right into his room let out a scream.

"Draco Malfoy! _WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!_"

"Hermione? Wait, what, how did you- uh, shit shit shit-" Draco scrambled to cover himself with a blanket as he muttered under his breath, then he stopped in his movements and let the blanket slide down from his body to the carpeted floor.

"Why am I covering myself? It's not as if you haven't seen your own body before-" He said, and stuck his fingers into both of his ears when she continued shrieking, "That's not the problem right here, Malfoy! Why the hell are you- why is _my body_ _NAKED_?"

Draco actually had the audacity to look down at himself before saying, "You're not naked. You still have your undergarments on."

"I swear, I'll throttle you if you don't put on clothes _this instant!_"

"Fine." With a lazy flick of his wand, Draco transfigured the blanket into a simple dress and pulled it on.

Her face was red with rage and her eyes were shooting out sparks of fury but Draco merely gazed at her calmly.

"Good morning, Hermione." He grinned unrepentantly, and continued, "Did you sleep well?"

"Go to hell, Malfoy! And don't you ever do that again!" Her fury had not fully abated but she seemed to have calmed down a little from her outburst, although her chest was still heaving.

"But I can't sleep well with my clothes on. Besides, if we don't work this out, at some point I'm going to have to see your body." He protested, blinking in a deceptively innocent manner that Hermione didn't buy.

"What the hell do you mean?" She crossed her arms and kept her temper under rein.

"I mean... like having a bath, and stuff."

"You're _not_ having a bath! I mean, we can just use spells to clean ourselves up!"

"Are you depriving my body of a bath? Seriously?"

"I'm not depriving your body of anything, Malfoy."

"Right, so I'm back to being Malfoy when you're arguing with me."

"You're back to being Malfoy because I caught you like _this_!"

"Like this? Like what? I wasn't doing anything inappropriate. And don't tell me you didn't look into the mirror the first thing you got home." Draco smirked. He had her riled up, he knew, and it was not nice of him, but he actually enjoyed it.

"I didn't- Fine. But this doesn't mean you can do anything you like with my body!" Hermione protested, blushing as Draco's smirk became more pronounced because she did not actually deny his accusation.

"It's my body now. By the way, how did you know I was here?" He gave a little shrug, and quickly changed the subject when he caught the look on Hermione's face.

Hermione reluctantly let go of their argument and replied, "There's a thing called tracing, Malfoy. I traced my mobile phone and that's how I found you."

"Traced your mobile phone? There's such a thing?" Draco looked confused.

"Yes, there is. And um... someone called you this morning." A slightly guilty look suddenly crossed Hermione's face and Draco frowned.

"Is today a Friday?" He asked and Hermione nodded. There was silence for a second before he swore so loudly that his voice rang across the room, "_Fuck! Fuck-fuck-fuck-_"

"Malfoy!" Hermione looked offended, but Draco seemed completely oblivious to her presence, one hand buried into his hair and almost tearing those brown curls out as he paced around the room.

"Calm down Draco-"

"I can't fucking calm down! I have an important meeting right now and I can't go like _this_!" He screamed at her.

"Shouting doesn't help, Malfoy. We have to think of something." She said, quickly running through a series of helpful spells in her head.

"Think of what? I'm doomed, that's it. I can't do anything about this. I'm going to lose the contract." Draco groaned, slumping against the wall with his head bowed.

"Maybe we can try altering your appearance a bit." Hermione spoke up, waving her wand in a flourish at Draco's hair as she did, expecting it to turn blond, but nothing happened. She tried another spell to shorten his hair and straighten it so that it looked like Draco's silky pale locks, but again, nothing happened. The magic seemed to have no effect on Draco's appearance whatsoever.

"It seems like our bodies are now immune to appearance-altering spells." She stated in disappointment, and Draco let out a frustrated growl.

"Why the fuck does this have to happen to me?"

"Maybe I can go in your stead." Hermione offered out of a sudden, not knowing why she did, but rationally, she felt as if that would be the quickest solution to the problem.

"You don't even know what's going on. You won't be able to do it." Draco countered dejectedly.

A little frown creased Hermione's forehead. "Tell me what to do. Fill me in."

"Are you serious? If you muck up, I'm dead." He warned her, his expression serious, but there was a new light of hope in his eyes.

"Of course I'm serious. You know me better than that." She replied, and he nodded, then proceeded to tell her the details of his meeting.

Three minutes later, Hermione appeared at the meeting place in her 'new' suit -Draco had transfigured yesterday's suit into a different one- and managed to look suitably apologetic as she explained her lateness to a room of extremely annoyed people.

Outside the meeting room, Draco was pacing along the corridor, his hands clenched tight in his pockets. Hermione didn't know this, but the meeting actually meant a lot to him, because his father had promised that if Draco managed to secure the contract, he would be able to take over Malfoy Enterprises.

His chest felt tight as he looked at his feet and walked down the corridor all over again. What if she failed? He didn't want to contemplate that idea, but his feet were uncontrollable, and they kept walking around on their own accord. He had to do something, or he'd go mad while waiting. Just then, the door to the meeting room opened and the well-dressed people began to file out of the room. A quick peek revealed a smiling Hermione and the man he was supposed to secure a contract with. They were shaking hands and both parties looked satisfied with the decision they came through with.

A relief breath left his lungs immediately in a whoosh. When everyone was gone and he was alone with Hermione, he drew her into a sudden hug, causing her to yelp in surprise.

"Malfoy-"

"Thank Merlin you didn't screw up." He whispered into her ear, his hot breath brushing against the tiny hairs on her skin, and she shivered, a strange reaction considering that she wasn't even in her own body.

"I never screw things up, ever." She retorted, and withdrew from his embrace.

"I know." Draco grinned brightly, his mood instantly uplifted. The situation didn't look so bleak as it did before.

"It's just like role-playing, except that I have to role-play someone I don't particularly like." Hermione said smugly.

"I'm so happy now that you can say anything you like." Draco said, still grinning.

"You know, this can be the temporary solution to our problem." She pointed out, and Draco's grin faded.

"You want us to exchange places in life?"

"Unless you want to tell everyone we've swapped bodies, I don't see how else we can handle this situation." Hermione stated.

"_Shit._ I can't be you. I know nothing about healing." Draco muttered.

"Pentsworth will help you. If I can learn how to be you, you can learn how to be me too." She was acting too nonchalant for his liking, almost as if she was enjoying his discomfort.

"You're willing to put your patients into my hands? You don't care that much about their well-being?"

"Don't twist my words, Malfoy. I'll have Pentsworth keep a very close eye on you, so don't you dare try anything." She warned, her expression so serious that he had to nod quickly in agreement.

"Fine. So when do I start my healer training?"

* * *

Pentsworth mopped the sweat off his brow and tried to keep his expression impassive.

"Is this a good idea? I mean, he has absolutely no experience in healing..."

"Come on, Pentsworth, surely an accomplished healer like you would be able to train him. We're counting on you." Hermione gave him an un-Draco-like sweet smile and Pentsworth managed to swallow back a protest.

"In the mean time, I shall visit the library to do some research. Maybe I'll find a counterspell for this." She gestured at herself and sauntered out of Pentsworth's office with a little wave, leaving Pentsworth and Draco staring at each other.

Draco cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, shall we begin?"

Three hours later, Draco was ready to hex Pentsworth into oblivion.

"How the fuck am I supposed to remember where the spots are supposed to be so that I can use this whatever-it-is spell?"

His frustration mounted as Pentsworth shook his head and patiently tried to explain the symptoms to him once again.

"How's it going?" A cheery voice came from the doorway and both of them turned to face Hermione, who was looking rejuvenated, very much the opposite of Draco.

"I feel like killing someone right now." Draco said through gritted teeth, and Pentsworth added, "You probably will if you don't memorise this properly."

"Oh, fuck all of this."

* * *

For the next few days, the role-playing 'game' commenced. It was a disaster in many ways, especially for Draco, who was struggling to remain in character while learning as many healing spells as he could. Hermione was faring better, but she had been constantly burying herself in business-related books and office documents, so the both of them had not had much time to really talk to each other. Other than those hours when they were working, they carried on with each other's new lives, Draco in his hotel and Hermione in her own home.

One day, Pentsworth couldn't stand it anymore and demanded to see Hermione. Hermione managed to drag herself away from a pile of documents and went to Pentsworth's office.

"How's everything going?" She asked while placing a hand over her tired eyes.

"I can't handle Malfoy on my own, and I'm going crazy trying to remember to call him Healer Granger." Pentsworth complained. He wasn't looking any better than the both of them, his skin had an unhealthy, white pallor to it, and his voice sounded hoarse.

"What do you want me to do then?"

"I don't have the time to teach him everything he's _supposed to_ know, at least in other people's eyes. You must take a hand in teaching him too." He said, and Hermione had to admit that she was putting too much of a burden on her colleague.

"Alright then, I'll teach him during nighttime. We'll exchange notes on how to role-play each other."

* * *

The room was silent until Hermione finally tore her eyes away from the page she was reading and said,"You probably should get going, Draco. It's really late."

No answer came from the person sitting opposite her in the mini library of her house. It was the fifth night since she and Draco had started to meet up with each other in her house, and he had always been the one to end their sessions and leave.

"Draco?" She whispered, and instantly she realised that the person in question had fallen asleep. The book was held open in his hands, but his eyes were closed, and his breathing was even. A brown curl of hair fell against his forehead, brushing his left eyebrow as he stirred slightly, but he did not wake up. Hermione stared at him, still in a contemplative mood. She didn't want to wake him up, not when he was resting so peacefully; the frustration from the past hours had already disappeared from his expression. After a moment, she took out her wand and carefully levitated him onto her couch, her movements were gentle so that she would not jolt him awake. Then she transfigured a rug into a blanket and draped it over his body.

His soft breathing filled the space between them and she sat down beside the couch and gazed at his face (actually, it was her own face she was staring at). It was strange to see yourself in a different point of view, as a different person. She was beginning to notice little things about herself she hadn't noticed before even though it had been her body for more than twenty years, like how her left brow was slightly arched upwards into a perpetual thinking expression even when she was sleeping or the way she looked when she pouted.

She had to admit that Draco had a very good dress sense. He seemed to know what kind of outfits suit her the best, and she suspected that his expertise stemmed from a huge amount of experience with women. It bothered her when she thought of it, so she tried not to. She knew his looks were irresistible, and the amount of attention she had gotten from women when she was in his body was testament to that fact. Thankfully, in her workplace, the women were behaving themselves, because there was a strict rule against office relationships in his company, much to her relief.

Nothing could explain why she was getting more and more addicted to his company, how she looked forward to see him every day and how strangely empty she felt when he wasn't around. Even though on the outside he looked like her, she could never be mistaken about his identity, because he was still Draco Malfoy through and through. The way he laughed, smirked and joked with her, the way he took care of her hair and carefully tamed those unruly curls, the way he shared a knowing look with her when they purposely made Pentsworth more agitated than ever, told Hermione that he was still him. He didn't change - he was still as over-confident and smug as he was, but he was certainly closer than before. Not just because she was having his body now, but also because of his constant company. He was becoming like a drug to her, and every time she saw her reflection on a glass, mirror or any reflective surface, it got worse.

Unconsciously, her hand went up to rake through her hair, and she let out a sigh. She was getting carried away by her thoughts, and this was not her. She was Hermione Granger, a person who was always focused, not confused and lost. Ever since she was a kid she had always known what to do, what not to do. But now she knew nothing. All she could do was wait for the muggle couple to return and for this strange dream to end.

* * *

"Good morning, Hermione." Sunlight filtered into Hermione's bedroom through the windows as the curtains were drawn open.

"Go away, Draco." She mumbled against her pillow and tried to slink back into the covers, but Draco was having none of that.

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. There's breakfast." He continued cheerily and yanked the blankets off her body, ignoring her growl of disgruntlement.

"Feeling at home, aren't we?" She muttered under her breath but dragged herself out of the bed. Draco said nothing; he was humming to himself as he waved his wand to make her bed.

"Thanks." Despite her initial annoyance at being woken up, she didn't forget her manners. Hermione covered her mouth as she yawned, and Draco merely smiled.

He was in an extremely good mood when he woke him this morning to find himself still in Hermione's house. He wasn't expecting this; he'd thought that if he fell asleep she would've woken him up with an alarm clock to his ear and made him leave, but she hadn't. Instead she'd moved him onto the couch and covered him with a blanket. If this was not proof that Hermione was softening towards him, he didn't know what was. Besides, a morning Hermione was so just so adorably grumpy, and he was glad he had the chance to see such a side of her.

"So what's for breakfast?" Hermione asked after brushing her teeth and combing through her mussed hair with her fingers.

After Draco presented his handiwork, Hermione couldn't resist praising his culinary skills (even though he did have help using his magic) while gobbling down her breakfast. When she looked up and saw Draco staring at her thoughtfully, her spoon stopped midair halfway towards her mouth.

"What?"

"Haven't you been having proper breakfasts?" He asked, chewing on his bacon slowly.

Hermione shrugged. "Not so much now that I have more work to deal with."

"Nothing's more important than breakfast, Hermione." Draco chided, refilling her glass with orange juice.

"Mm-hmm. Anyway, I was just thinking-" She paused mid-sentence, and then he realised that her eyes were suddenly glued to his chest.

"What?"

"Are you- are you wearing a- a- bra, Draco?" Her voice lowered a fraction as she hissed the word, her cheeks reddening in embarrassment. He froze at her question.

No, he wasn't.

"Uh, you know, it's too damn uncomfortable..."

"_Draco Malfoy_!"

"Okay okay. I'll wear it to work today."

"Wait, does that mean you haven't been wearing it to work for the past few days?" Hermione's voice got shriller towards the end of her sentence, and Draco grimaced slightly.

"You wear robes over your clothes. No one could have known whether you are wearing one or not." He replied defensively.

"What the hell were you thinking? It's my body everyone's seeing, and if they'd seen anything-" Hermione was so mortified by that thought that she couldn't even complete her sentence.

"I wouldn't have let it happen, Hermione. I wouldn't have let_ anyone_ see your body." _Except for me_, he thought inwardly as he spoke, not even realising that he was sounding possessive.

"I don't care. You're going to wear it from now onwards, do you get it?" She growled at him across the dining table.

"Fine." He shot back at her, returning to his bacon as if they never had that awkward conversation.

After they were done with breakfast, Hermione went into her study to gather a few documents into her briefcase and heard Draco curse loudly in the living room.

"Fuck this!"

He had taken off his top and was struggling to clasp the bra from behind when Hermione walked in and rolled her eyes.

"I bet you've unclasped countless of those but you still don't even know how to put one on." She muttered as she moved towards him, intending to help him. Draco, now annoyed by the thing constraining 'his' breasts, was just about to give her a biting rejoinder, but he managed to stop himself in time. The last thing he wanted to do was to brag about his conquests in front of a woman he was interested in.

Was it merely interest? His breath hitched in his chest as Hermione got right behind him, so close that the cloth of her suit was brushing against the skin of his bare back.

"You do it like this," she whispered against the back of his neck and he shuddered slightly as she gently did the clasp, her fingers touched his skin lightly, sending little frissons of pleasure dancing across his skin.

For a moment she didn't move and he stopped breathing.

Then a loud gasp interrupted the intimate moment, and Hermione spun around so quickly that she nearly knocked over a stool. Thankfully Draco had the sense to hastily pull on his top before turning around.

"Oh Merlin, I-I didn't mean to interrupt-" Ginny was standing by Hermione's fireplace, her eyes wide open and her voice was suffused with shock.

"Gi- Weaslette, it really isn't what you think." Hermione protested weakly, knowing that nothing she said would make Ginny believe that nothing was going on between her and Draco, not when they were caught in the 'act'.

"Don't worry, the two of you. I won't judge, and I know that you've been having the hots for each other. I was just surprised." Ginny said quickly, recovering from the shock almost instantly.

"We- Ginny, we'll appreciate it if you keep this quiet from everyone, because we need time to sort things out before we can get serious."

Both of them turned to look at Draco, Hermione giving him a warning look while Ginny merely looked very curious.

"No problem, Hermione. I was just here to tell you to come to the Burrow for dinner tonight." Ginny went on cheerily, oblivious to the underlying tension in the room.

"Uh, I'll be really busy tonight, sorry." Draco told her unapologetically. He'd rather spend an hour listening to Luna Lovegood babble about Nargles than spend time with that bunch of redheads.

"It's okay, I understand. You two would probably want to spend time together. Don't monopolise Hermione though, she's also ours." She gave Hermione a smirk and shot Draco a knowing look before disapparating with a small 'pop'.

"She really has the worst timing ever." Hermione groaned and Draco had to agree. However, because of Weaselette things were going his way now. Despite Hermione's initial aversion towards his idea of them being 'together' to erase any suspicions of their weird behaviour, it was obvious that Weaselette didn't think it was an impossible idea, therefore Hermione couldn't really say that it won't work anymore.

"Do you think she'll keep it quiet though?"

"I highly doubt it. I mean, I think she'll at least tell Harry about it, oh no." She groaned again, wondering how Harry might take the news.

"Is it really going to be that bad?"

"Imagine telling your parents that we're together." Hermione told him.

"Okay, I get it. But it really can't be _that_ bad." Draco grimaced at the thought of telling his parents that he was in a relationship with Hermione. On second thought, maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"No, of course not." Hermione murmured in assent, trying not to dwell on the fact that Draco was a pureblood, and purebloods didn't have relationships with muggleborns like her.

"Hermione. Stop thinking." Draco said suddenly, reaching forward to smooth the tiny crease in her forehead with his fingers.

"What?"

"I can tell you're thinking too hard when you bite your lip and this small frown appears on your forehead. If you do this too much, it may leave a permanent mark on my smooth forehead." He gave her a smile, and her traitorous heart skipped a beat.

"I should've known all you care about is appearance." Hermione grumbled, trying not to frown, and Draco chuckled softly.

"Of course. Anyway, I was thinking, maybe we _should_ move in together." He said slowly and watched her expression, gauging her reaction.

"Why?" Hermione looked calm, but her heartbeat had taken up speed again.

"Because… Because it'll be easier for us to get hold of each other, and I'm tired of living in a hotel room." He said, and Hermione's face fell a little as if disappointed by his answer, but she hurriedly covered up her reaction with a smile.

"I don't actually mind, because I need to keep an eye on you so that you don't go about doing stupid things to my body like not wearing a - well anyway, you get my point. But what if people find out? What if your parents know?"

"Um, even if we stay this way, my parents are still going to think I'm living in your house if they ever find out, because you _are_ living here." He pointed out.

"Alright then. I have a guest room, but I need to clear it up a bit first."

"We can do that together later." Draco said quickly, glancing at the clock as he continued, "We're going to be late for work."

**_Sorry that I took so long to update this story- I'd been busy because school just started two weeks ago! This chapter is longer than the rest and I really hope you've enjoyed it. I don't know what you think of it (this is where you leave a review to tell me!) but I was just wondering if the story was getting too fast-paced, or if the characters are becoming too out of character. I have no experience in writing a comedy, so if it's not funny enough or getting too angsty, please do tell me. I appreciate any constructive comments on my writing. Thank you for reading and please please please leave a review! Harry Potter belongs solely to JK Rowling and I own nothing of it._**


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